Leisure activities

Spending free time among Czech peers in a Czech-speaking environment helps children acquire the Czech language faster. What other advantages do clubs, camps, or other leisure activities give to your child? Read our Top Ten List and watch videos about the importance of leisure activities!

Well-designed leisure activities are part of your child’s education. They contribute to the development of soft skills, which will be useful in the constantly changing world. In addition, they promote psychological well-being and help create friendships that often last into adulthood. This is why we encourage you to use the opportunity and choose from a wide range of extracurricular activities!

Leisure activities have been very popular in the Czech Republic for a long time. Even smaller towns often offer a vast selection. Many sports clubs (e.g., soccer clubs) have a long tradition, some of them being based in small villages.

The principal organizers of leisure and interest clubs include:

  • Children and Youth Center (Dům dětí a mládeže – DDM)
  • Elementary Art School (Základní umělecká škola – ZUŠ)
  • sports clubs
  • Czech Scouting and hiking clubs
  • private organizations
  • schools and kindergartens

From toddlers to high school students

Many clubs are available to children who haven’t even celebrated their first birthday (they must be accompanied by their parents or grandparents). The most popular activities for the youngest children are swimming, exercise, playing together using rhymes, songs, and dances, art or music activities, Montessori playrooms, etc.

Starting at age of 3, children usually attend clubs independently. For children of kindergarten and elementary school age, the selection to choose from is widest, the popular clubs running out of free places very quickly. It is therefore advisable to submit applications well in advance before the beginning of the school year or term.

Focus areas

The selection of leisure activities is varied: you can find different types of clubs (sports, arts, science, crafts), organized hiking, holiday camps (both suburban and sleepaway), one-off trips, workshops, and other events.

Preschoolers and schoolchildren can choose from a range of clubs focusing on the following main areas:

  • Sports
  • Music and dance
  • Art and ceramics
  • Theater
  • Technology
  • Foreign languages
  • Tourism and games

Club registration

Most of the clubs start during September or late September/early October. Children and Youth Centers (DDM) and other organizations usually open enrollment for the new school year in June!

Paper application forms are used for club registration. Some organizations (e.g., most of the Children and Youth Centers) provide application forms translated into other languages or a staff member who can assist you in filling out the form.

Some organizations use a web portal for registration, others prefer using e-mail.

If you want your child to stay in the same club next year, you must always submit a new application for the following year.

Please note: If your child has a medical condition such as epilepsy, diabetes, asthma, allergies, they underwent surgeries in the past, or they have special needs, etc., it is vital to disclose this information on the application form. Stating truthfully this important information does not disqualify your child from the club, but sharing it is essential to keep your child and other club participants safe.

Club membership fees, canceling registration

Membership fee is always paid in advance for the entire term or year.

If you do not have the means to pay for the clubs, you can apply for an allowance to cover the fees through the web portal Darujeme kroužky dětem.

Each organization follows its own refund policy for canceled memberships. Generally, the fees are non-refundable.

If you decide throughout the school year that your child will no longer be attending the club, it is common practice to notify the club organizers (though it is not obligatory). Letting them know will make room for any substitute applicants.

The principal organizers of leisure activities

Kindergarten and school clubs

For clubs organized in educational institutions, registration is made with the kindergarten or school. Information and registration forms are available from the class teachers or the after-school club. Clubs are held during school or after-school club hours. The instructors or teachers pick up children at the after-school club and escort them back when the club is over. Many kindergartens, especially in Prague or in areas where sports facilities are available, also offer swimming or skating classes. In some kindergartens, clubs are only offered to children in their final year of kindergarten.

Sports clubs

The majority of interest clubs are held once a week. However, sports clubs are intended for a more dynamic development of sports skills in children and adolescents. Children are placed in training groups according to their age.

Young children attend training sessions in sports clubs at least twice a week, older children at least three times a week. Some clubs admit new members all year round.

The Czech Republic has a long tradition of football and ice hockey clubs. Other sports are also popular, e.g., floorball, field hockey, volleyball, basketball, handball, athletics, gymnastics, swimming, climbing, tennis, rugby, judo, cycling, MTB, and parkour.

Elementary art schools

An elementary art school (ZUŠ; or commonly referred to as “zuška” in Czech) is a type of school that provides basic education and artistic development in the following fields:

  • Music (solo singing, choral singing, playing a musical instrument, theory)
  • Graphic arts (drawing, painting, modeling, etc.)
  • Dance
  • Drama

Applications and talent exams usually take place between April and June. The exact exam dates are always posted on schools’ websites and/or noticeboards.

The purpose of the talent exams is to assess an applicant’s aptitude to study the selected field. For example, in music, singing, intonation, rhythm, or pitch are assessed; in dance, rhythm, physical aptitude, or independence; in graphic arts, flair for color and composition, imagination, or the correct ways to hold art tools.

Elementary art school studies are divided into stages similar to the system used in schools (preparatory studies for children from 5 years of age – up to 2 grades; elementary studies for children from 7 years of age – 7 grades; elementary studies for children from 14 years of age – 4 grades). The organization of the school year (including holidays) follows the same pattern as in elementary or high schools.

Classes take place in the afternoon. In addition to individual instrument playing or singing classes, music students must also attend group music theory classes.

The attendance policy is similar to that of regular elementary schools – for example, the absence of a student due to medical reasons must be duly excused according to the established procedure (using a web form, by e-mail, or by phone).

Music students regularly perform at student recitals, educational concerts for children from local kindergartens, as well as public concerts in local cultural centers, ceremonial halls, or churches.

The most talented students may pursue further musical studies at music grammar schools or conservatories.

Scout groups

Scout groups usually meet once a week at a scheduled time in or near a clubhouse. The typical program of scout meetings is playing games, whose purpose is to stimulate further development of the children. Scout groups require regular attendance at meetings as well as weekend events.

Once or twice a month, the Scouts go on one-day or two-day weekend trips to the countryside. During the summer holidays, children spend approximately 3 weeks at a Scout camp where they sleep in a tent, help set up camp, cook, prepare wood, etc. The program is spiced up with an adventure game based on a selected theme for all camp participants. Water Scouts go on a canoe camping trip.

Leisure activities for adolescents

Adolescents of high school age naturally seek greater independence and autonomy and therefore do not take part in group leisure activities as much as younger students. However, there is a wide range of interesting activities for them that are suitable for their age group, especially in larger cities. Examples of these activities include parkour, street dance, modern dance, baseball, computer graphics, 3D graphics and animation, video game development, photography, flight modeling, sewing, art studios, and many others.

In many cities, often close to large housing projects and generally in areas where there are few group activities for young people, there are also low-threshold clubs (low-threshold facilities / NZDM). These are accessible to all children and adolescents within a specific age group at scheduled hours (e.g., in the afternoon on some weekdays). They are free of charge and “anonymous”, i.e., no registration is required. Children can meet their peers, listen to music, play games, and use social counselling services (social, health, legal, and leisure information) in a safe and warm environment.

Summer camps

During the summer (sometimes also spring) holidays, many interest groups also organize suburban or sleepaway camps.

Suburban camps take one week (Monday to Friday) and provide a full-day program (usually with meals included). Parents drop their children off at the camp site in the morning and pick them up in the evening. Suburban camps usually focus on a specific activity (e.g., sports, art, etc.).

Sleepaway camps take place in the countryside, with children often sleeping in a tent. Some camps are organized as canoe camping or cycling training trips.

The demand for camps is usually high. Camp dates are often published at the beginning of the calendar year. If you want to make sure your children have a place, you need to book well ahead, often several months before the summer holidays start!

The most up-to-date information about leisure activities in your region are provided by the corresponding integration center branch office.

Prague

Events for children

Other regions

  1. Low-threshold clubs:
    1. Ponton Plzeň region
    2. YMCA Ústí nad Labem
    3. YMCA Orlová
    4. YMCA Pelhřimov
  2. Children and youth organizations:
    1. Czech Scouting
    2. Hiking groups
    3. YMCA
    4. Young Caritas
    5. Find Children and youth centers in your hometown or nearby on this map.
    6. Sports clubs
  3. Elementary art schools (ZUŠ)
    1. List of elementary art schools in the Czech Republic
  4. Leisure activities for art lovers offered by the Czech Association of Museums and Galleries:
    1. Events for children
    2. Museums for Ukraine

Download our resources and watch the videos:

The Top Ten List or Why sign up your children for leisure activities and how to choose

Videos on the importance of leisure activities

Directory or Looking for a leisure activity for my child

Guide to leisure activities in the Czech Republic

Leisure and community activities organized by META

The most up-to-date information about activities organized by META can be found here: